Chocolates & Cigarettes
by miics
Summary: "...and I can think of a Thousand reasons why... I don't believe in you..." Seven years passed since Konoha and Suna had missions together. Old feelings might be awaken and who knows what might happen when you start dealing with your past issues? READ THE INTRO for a bigger description.
1. Intro

**_"...and _****_I can _****_think of _****_a _****_Thousand reasons why... I _****_don't believe _****_in _****_you..."_**

Seven years have passed since Konoha and Suna had missions together. You could say that after the war things slowed down a little bit.

He was meeting the new kids that would start school in the end of Summer, a Jounin like himself was expected to be there, to know all their names and to prepare to get a team of his own, afterall Shikamaru, one of the brightest minds in all the village, was only sent in S or A ranked missions. He actually had quite alot of free time.

After the war ended he and Yamanaka Ino became pretty close and with time they started dating. He though she was pretty annoying at first but I guess you can say he grew up to like her even though everything was troublesome for him. Sometimes she even talked about marriage but he was not even there yet. It was too troublesome... Specially one though that would come to his mind from time to time...

Tsunade-sama called him to her office one morning and give him an important scroll with some secret informacion about a S ranked mission. He was not to tell anyone about it, not his family, not his girlfriend. He was just told to pack a bag, some food and leave as soon as possible, his parter would be waiting halfway he was told.

He left that night.


	2. I Has the world changed, or have I?

The war ended and it took some time for the villages to fully recover. Right after the war a big economic crisis took place and it seemed that things would never become like they used to.

Finally, after seven years Konoha establish it's economic power again and the commerce started growing one more time. It's funny when you think about all the problems that come from war, all the pain, all the sadness, all the moving on with the life you once had, the burden of carrying on with your clan's name always remembering the ones who perish in battle.

"Such a peaceful day..." Shikamaru though as he got out of bed. "Geez, I wake up one hour earlier and I'm already late..." he sighed looking at the clock on the wall. He took a quick shower, got dressed and rushed to the village academy. He was going to meet the new students, just a quick look, see if everything was okay and then report back to Tsunade-sama.

As he walked down the street he couldn't stop thinking about this dream he had. He'd had that dream before, way before, right after the war end. But he never remembered all of the dream, only parts of it. There was a woman, naked. She lied on her belly and all he could see was her back, he could almost touch her, he could almost feel her skin, her skin that was like silk. There was a certain scent to that particular dream but he couldn't remember who it belonged to.

"Shikamaruuuuuu!" he was violently pull away from he's day-dream.

"Aye Ino..." he said quietly. He kissed her on the cheek and she looked at him kind of shocked.

"What was that for? Can't you kiss your girlfriend in the mouth?" she said angrily.

He sighed. "It's not that... I'm just not very well today Ino. Okay?" he looked up. "This is all to trou-"

"Troublesome?" she yelled. "Something's always troublesome with you Shikamaru! When you said you wanted to be with me I though you meant it but there's always something troublesome in your mind!"

"Ino... I think you misinterpreted me. I said that and I'll keep what I said..." he couldn't just deal with that right now, something was awfully off in his head that morning.

"You said what? Can you at least say that you love me? Can you?" she was playing strong but deep down Ino was crushed.

"Do we have to keep doing this?" he sighed again "I'm already late."

"We'll do this 'til I say it's enough!" she took a deep breath.

"So what do you want me to do?" Shikamaru said quietly.

She stood there in silence.

"INO!" he snapped "what do you want from me? I said that I wasn't feeling well today and yet you keep pushing me!" he breathed heavily. "I'll go now. We can talk later."

And he started to walk away from her.

"Nara Shikamaru don't you dare walk away from me!" he kept on walking. "Shikamaruuuuu!" She yelled as he vanished into thin hair.

He kept on walking on another street, that talk with Ino was awful... He never meant to hurt her, they were dating for about a year and in the beginning everything seemed very easy and he, for months, believed that being in a relationship with her would make him happier. That didn't happened at all. He wanted more, he wanted to feel as he once felt. And with Ino he wasn't feeling that... how could he ever tell her that? After their dads deaths they became pretty close, they reached for support in eachother's shoulders but he was starting to believe that he had mistaken the feelings. But how could he ever hurt her? Didn't she suffer enough with her father death, with Asuma's death as well? It would be cruel to tell her that he was in no shape to love her. How could he said that to her and kill a little's girl dream of having a family of her own? Sometimes she already talked about marriage and an alliance between their clans and a family and he wasn't just ready for that. It was too troublesome.

_Has the world changed, or have I changed?_He thought_. She would never be like..._

"Hi Shikamaru!" Naruto greeted him loudly breaking his though. "You look like hell! And you're late! Everyone's waiting!"

"Hi Naruto!" he was a little messed up. Shikamaru didn't like to think about the past. "Sorry, next time I won't be late." he said as he scratched his head thinking of an excuse.

The day went down smoothly, everything was in order to Tsunade-Sama. Shikamaru was feeling good about his work but he was still upset about the fight from early with Ino.

"Is everything okay?" Naruto asked while they were walking toTsunade's office.

"Yeah, yeah!" Shikamaru said. "I just had this stupid little fight with Ino this morning"

"What? She talked about marriage again?! She's always bitching about it!" Naruto mocked.

"No, actually she didn't talk about that! It's just that I'm not sure if I feel the same way she does. I'm not sure... I thought I was but I'm not anymore. Everything looks so complicated with her!" Shikamaru said, tired.

Naruto suddenly stopped. "And you think it would be different with the other one?" he said.

"What other one?" Shikamaru asked not knowing for sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"The other one. The other one from Suna that was always bitching about everything! She was never happy with anything!" Naruto said. "What a bitch she was!"

"She was not a bitch Naruto." Shikamaru looked straight into his eyes.

"Don't give me that lovely crap man! She was a bitch! She left you and she never said a word again. She could have visit but bet she had better things to do!"

"Enough Naruto! She had her reasons... I let it go a long time ago..."

"Did you? Did you really?" Naruto said looking at him. "I'm not buying a word you're saying. You can try to convince and fool yourself but you can't fool the others around you."

"Naruto I don't want to talk about it! It's history, we're history and it's better this way!" The sky was already pink and blue from the sunset. "I have to hurry! Will you come with me?"

Naruto stood in silence.

"Don't give me that look!" Shikamaru said "It's better this way!"

"It's better for who?" Naruto insisted.

"Leave it! It's not going to happen again. She's the one that got away, man." he looked to the ground sadly and then disappeared with the wind.

Naruto just stood there thinking about his words... The one that got away...

He arrived to Tsunade's office. He knocked.

"Come in!" she said.

"Tsunade-sama!" he greeted. "I have all the information you asked me!"

"How are you child?!" Tsunade said loudly and smiling. "You look like hell!"

"I'm fine Tsunade-sama!" he faked a big smile. "Just random troublesome stuff!"

"Hm... well forget that now! We have a huge problem to deal with!" Her face became serious suddenly.

"Do you want to hear about the reports?" Shikamaru asked promptly.

"No! Forget that! There's bigger things in our hands right now!"

"Shoot!" Shikamaru said. He liked a good challenge.

"I normally don't send Jounin's like yourself in this kind of missions but you seem to be the best fit. It's a S-ranked mission and you can't tell anyone that you're going. It's secret Shikamaru! Do you understand that?" she was way to serious.

"Haii!"

"Good! In this scroll is all the information you need and a map." Tsunade threw him a huge scroll perfectly sealed. "You can't tell you family and you can't tell Ino... You must simply disappear."

He looked at the scroll suspiciously.

"I think my family and my girlfriend would notice my absence Tsunade-sama..." he said trying to think about this mission from all angles.

"Yes, of course they will! But we will come up with something... We'll say you went somewhere, an emergency... I don't know! We'll come up with something! But that's my job! You're job it's to go, now, pack a bag, some food and go. Open the scroll outside the village, don't let anyone know about this Shikamaru!"

"Haii Tsunade-sama!"

"Okay! You can go now! Hurry!"

"Am I going alone on this mission?" Shikamaru looked back as he reached the door.

"No, your partner will be waiting halfway! We're doing this one with Sunagakure!"

Listening to that gave him the chills.

"Haii Tsunade-sama!" and he left the office.

_I hope it's not her..._ Shikamaru thought as he walked down the street. _I don't think I could do it all over again..._

_"Where are you going?" he run towards her._

_"Away! I can't stay here anymore!" she said._

_"But why? You have everything here... I don't understand why you would want to leave..."_

_"I can't leave my brother... I'm the oldest, I'm his sister. I can't just abandon him!"_

_"You are NOT JUST abandoning him! You would stay here with me..."_

_She bit her lip._

_"Who said I wanted to stay here?" she yelled._

_"You don't mean that! You are just lying to yourself! Don't be so stubborn!"_

_"Shikamaru! Let it go! I won't stay!" she closed her fists. "Just leave me alone Shikamaru!"_

_"Why do you have to make things so complicated? Didn't you want something to fill you heart and your life?" he closed his eyes._

_"I want but it is not you! It's over Shikamaru..." she turned her back and started walking away from the village gates. _

_"TEMARI!" he yelled with tears already in his eyes._

_But she didn't look back. She never looked back._

Shikamaru stood at the village gates, the night was black and there was no moon in the sky. Those gates brought back so many memories. He took a deep breath.

_What am I doing with my life..._ he thought._I should have gone with her..._ he kept on thinking.

"How did I let her get away..." he mumbled as he walked away from the village.

_I'd do things differently now..._ he though.

Shikamaru kept on walking.


	3. I smoke cos Im hoping for an early death

Shikamaru arrived to his destination. He stood there for more than two hours, waiting for the mysterious partner.

_How can someone be so late!_ he though.

"Damn! Such a troublesome mission!" he mumbled lighting a cigarette.

"What? It's only mid day and you're already saying it's troublesome?" Shikamaru heard a feminine voice behind him. He knew that voice, of course, it was so obvious it was her.

"Tsh so now you smoke?" she said roughly "It's pathetic you know." she kept saying as he stood there staring at her.

"Do I have something on my face?" she raged. "Quit staring Shikamaru!"

"Te... Temari..." he said. He took a deep breath. "I stood here for hours waiting!"

"Oh boo hoo. Cry me a river Nara. I'm here now! Let's get moving!" she started walking. "And put out the damn cigarette! It's making me nauseous!" She yelled.

"Stop being so bossy!" Shikamaru said scratching his head. "I'll put the cigarette out when I'm done." he started walking too. "Geez such a troublesome woman."

"I heard that!" Temari looked back at him.

"It was meant to be heard." Shikamaru put out the cigarette and toss it away. "Let's get going..."

Temari was awfully quiet. Shikamaru didn't know what was wrong with her. She acted like it never happen, like those conversations between them never existed. She was acting like it was before and like nothing had ever happen between them. He was feeling confused and he was starting to feel tired. He was not the same guy he was seven years ago, drunk in love, he had changed, he recognized his mistakes and he moved on from them. On the other hand she was the same, bossy, sassy, stubborn, her mind was as cold as ice and her heart frozen as well. It was a true dilemma because he loved her for so many years, she left, he kept on loving her, he tried to move on, he kept on loving her but now he couldn't even stand her awkward bossy way of dealing with that kind of situation. Shikamaru was feeling confused, he though he had forgotten her long time ago.

"So, this mission..." Temari started. "What's the big plan?"

"I don't know..." Shikamaru said. "I haven't though about it yet... But it seems pretty troublesome for me"

"Everything seems troublesome for you..." She said looking at him.

"Not everything!"

"Shikamaru please, everything! The mission is troublesome, report the mission is troublesome, the war was troublesome, I bet waking up in the morni-"

"We weren't troublesome!" he interrupted her. "Waking up with you by my side wasn't troublesome!"

She stopped.

"I didn't come here to listen to all this nonsense again!" she said calmly.

"You came here because your brother told you to. Because he gave you an order."

"No! He asked me to come!"

"Temari, he's the Kazekage, he doesn't ask."

She stood there in silence and took a deep breath.

"You didn't had a choice but to come here! ... You never refuse a mission anyway." he continued.

"Of course I don't! This is my life, I'm a Jounin and I have a duty to my village and to my family Shikamaru... I don't wanna fight okay?"

"Neither do I! I just want to get this over with and go back to Konoha!"

She was looking at him and he could tell there was so much things that were left unsaid. He was looking her in the eyes and for a moment there was no wind, no sound, no light, only one another, yet there was so much left to say, so many pain restrained for years. She bited her lip, turned around and kept walking.

As they walked Shikamaru noticed she opened her mouth like she was going to talk but it seemed that she thought twice about it.

"Were you going to say something?" He asked.

"No..." she said.

_Why is she so strict?!_ he thought. _Damn it Temari!_

"We should stop here..." Shikamaru said. "It's almost night and we can camp here. It seems safe."

"Okay" Temari said. "I'll take the first shift watching."

The night passed and they switch positions at 4 am. They barely talked.

"Let's go Temari!" Shikamaru said waking her up. "It's already morning."

They were walking for almost another day and they didn't change two words... She was shutting him out and Shikamaru didn't know what could he do to reach to her...

"So what were you doing back in Suna?" Shikamaru asked as they were walking. Maybe the small talk would soften her.

"I was coordinating missions. I assign missions and then the teams report to me." she kept looking forward.

"Didn't you miss this days in the field? Ahah! I sure d-"

"Are you sure we're in the right track?" Temari looked intrigued.

"Why?" he stopped and looked around.

"Something doesn't seem right..."

"Yeah we're supposed to be heading North..."

"Yes and by now the weather should be getting moist and a little bit cold... We've been walking for a couple hours now..."

Shikamaru took the map from his bag and the compass.

"This is not right" he said. "Look, in the theory we're right, according to the map we're heading North and we're almost arriving to Amegakure..."

Shikamaru looked to the compass.

"But according to this we're heading northeast..." he said.

"If the compass is correct then we are heading to Otogakure..." Temari said. "This can became quite dangerous..."

"After the war things chilled a bit Temari. Otogakure doesn't seem to attack other villages out of nowhere now..."

"An enemy is always and enemy!"

"C'mon Temari you know it's not like that..." he said looking at her.

"I still remember that colored hair bitch.." she gave him a tricky smile. "If it wasn't for me you'd be dead!"

He look embarrassed. "Shut it!" he said quickly.

"Teh he!" she smiled. "That Tayuya bitch!"

"Quit reminiscing about the past! Let's solve this already" he said roughly, even though he loved to see her smile.

"Okay okay!" She took the map "Let's see what we have here..."

Shikamaru looked around. Everything seemed normal, the trees, the leaves, even the rocks on the ground seemed quite ordinary.

"I'm not seeing what can be wrong here..." Temari started "Can it be Genjutsu?"

Something moved.

"Shhhh!" said Shikamaru.

Temari dropped the map and immediately positioned her gigantic fan for battle. Shikamaru was trying to perceive where the sound came from.

_Perhaps it was just the wind..._ he thought. _But there's no wind... At least for now._

"There's no sound..." Temari mumbled.

"If this is some kind of jutsu it's pointless to make ourselves go unnoticed... So there's no point in hiding our presence..." said Shikamaru.

"Yes, since whoever this is knows we are trapped in whatever this is..."

"Exactly Temari... Either this is someone really skilled and is miles away doing this, or is someone or a team with mediocre skills and are hiding somewhere near...Somewhere close enough to be hit by some kind of powerful attack... And we are probably being heard..." he glanced at her and Temari nodded as she understood the plan perfectly.

She opened the fan, put back her right foot for balance, pulled the fan back and released creating a huge mass of wind that would destroy everything in it's way. Nothing happened.

"Again!" Shikamaru said.

She did the same exact moves, she stroke as hard as she could and nothing happened again, the trees were intact.

"Temari?!" He yelled.

"Geez! I'm trying!" Temari growled pissed.

"Try harder!" He yelled!

_Jerk!_ she thought while releasing a colossal tornado that flowed in all directions decimating all the trees and standing structures.

"I knew you could do it." he mumbled glancing at her.

She smirked and looked away.

_She's pissed..._ Shikamaru thought.

"Now what?" Temari asked.

Shikamaru looked around. _This could be a trap..._ he thought.

"All this mission is a trap." he said quietly to Temari. "Since the beginning, I think we've been going down in circles and this is a trap... They knew we were coming. And I think the genjutsu was deceiving us from the start what leads me to believe that they knew where we were going to meet..."

"You think so?" Temari was prepared to strike another attack again.

"Yes... They knew all along. They've been watching us and maybe following you since you left Suna. I don't know who they are but they must be very good deceivers and concealers because I didn't even suspected that we were being followed..."

"But I don't see anyone..." Said Temari

"Of course you don't. We're above you sweetie pie." Temari heard a voice coming from above and as she looked up she saw a man appearing into the air and jumping close to them.

_Who the fuck is this guy?_ Shikamaru thought.

"It's quite shocking that you only realize now the genjutsu... I mean... what are you? Jounins?" the man threw a kunai that passed so close to Shikamaru's face he felt the cold of the weapon.

_He's fast..._ Shikamaru kept thinking. _But he's not alone... He's too careless and too cocky._

Temari stepped to the side and put herself between Shikamaru and the stranger.

She kept on observing him, he was not wearing any headband and had no identification from any village. The stranger was taller than her and taller than Shikamaru, he was also tougher... But not so tough for her fan.

"Are you planning to do anything with that toy?" the man said pointing to the fan.

She grounded her teeth.

"You shouldn't underestimate me." Temari said.

"You shouldn't do that to me either sweetie." he said trowing another kunai. Temari managed to dodge it.

Shikamaru looked at the sun, almost sunset... the sun was almost hiding in the mountains...

"Now!" Shikamaru yelled.

Temari took the opportunity after the attack and cut the air as fast as she could with her fan. The wind produced hit the man with such brutality he was projected to the air.

"Kagemane no jutsu!" Shikamaru yelled as the man was falling down trapping him in his shadow.

_He's really good..._ Temari though gazing at Shikamaru.

"Geez you can't do anything by your own Jiru!" A female voice was being projected from somewhere.

A girl appeared behind Temari.

"Temari watch out!" Shikamaru screamed but he wasn't quick enough, neither was Temari. She only noticed the girl when she pinched her with a needle right below her right ear. The girl disappeared into thin air.

Temari blacked out and fell on the ground. Shikamaru looked at her but he couldn't go there because he was trapping the other guy and he was out of plans... They were two and he was only one.

_What if there are more of them?_ He thought. _This is a lost battle..._

"Lost indeed..." The girl appeared again behind him. He trapped her in his shadow but she'd already pinched him with the same looking needle.

_Damn!_ He thought._It's poison._

Shikamaru fell on the ground. He wasn't completely blacked out, his eyes were hazy and he couldn't move at all, he could barelly breath but he could listen to them and see them. Three more men arrived and he saw the man they'd fight pick up Temari and put her in his shoulder.

"She has a nice ass!" The man said to the other. "But she was so bitchy! I was watching them and she yelled so much... Geez! I bet that one's the boyfriend!"

"This one?" one of the other men said. The man kicked Shikamaru in the stomach, he felt every muscle he had contracting in pain but couldn't move at all.

"I'd give her something to yell about!" the man said adjusting the pants and his crotch with his bare hand. All the men laugh and then the girl appeared again.

"Guys c'omon! We don't pay you to be hanging around and talking! Carry them! Go!" She said.

"Oh someone's pissed!" Shikamaru heard one of the men say. "It's because this girl's ass is better than yours?"

The girl advanced so fast Shikamaru didn't noticed her. She was looking at the man, she was small, not very tall but very skinny. She pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the liver. The man fell on his knees.

"Fuck!" he cussed.

"Why are you so pissed?" the girl said quietly. "It's because my liver works better than yours?"

She turned away.

"Let's go guys. Leave him." She said and they started walking.

Shikamaru couldn't believe the ruthless of that girl. She seemed so fragile yet she was full of murderous intent... He was worried about Temari, what would they do to her... They could do whatever they wanted with him but not with her. He was feeling angry and powerless, he should have been able to help her back then but he misjudge that gang and what they were capable of... Now they could only wait and then try to escape if it was not to late already...


	4. I'm not the man you think I am

Hello! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update my fanfic but college was crazy and I barely managed to keep my own life together... I hope you keep enjoying my story. It's getting really messy now! Temari and Shikamaru are captives and they are going through hell!  
>I hope you like it!<p>

Kisses**

* * *

><p><strong>*10 months passed*<strong>

_"We made it!" he said gasping for air._

_"Yes we did..." she took a deep breath. "We need to find shelter. I'm so tired..."_

_"It's because we walked too much..." he said. She was losing to much blood but she didn't seem to noticed and he didn't want to scare her so he didn't tell. "Let's go!"__Shikamaru__said putting her arms around his neck to lift her."__Upsy__daisy!" he picked her up._

_And he carried her through the woods._

_(...)_

_"Hello! How are you?! You're trespassing! How do you think you are?!" said an old man._

_"Hello sir, we're very tired and she's losing to much blood... Can we stay here for the night?"_

_The old man frowned._

_"We'll work for you"__Shikamaru__said._

_"Shiraaaaaa~" the man called. "Prepare the bed and hot water!" He yelled while turning away._

***3 more months passed***

The sun was already up in the sky when he arrived to the gates. Once again, alone. A nostalgic feeling was taking over him, a deep sadness and a sense of loss, he was feeling like his heart was ripped out of his chest. The gates were open, he missed the smell of the trees, the heat of the village, he missed everything, but what he missed much was her. Her scent, her naked skin, her lips, her touch... He entered the village and started heading home. He was not living with his mother anymore. After the war his mother left to stay with a cousin in another village. He arrived to his house and everything was so empty, all the plants were dead, the garden was full of weeds and everything was covered in dust.

"OH MY GOD! SHIKAMARU! IT'S YOU!" he heard Ino yell at the door. "I was passing, I saw the door opened and I thought it was some thief!" she said, tears were scrolling down her face. "I can't believe your alive!" She entered and hugged him crying.

He didn't say a word.

"I though you were dead! Everyone did!" She kept crying.

_I am dead..._ He thought while starring at the door.

"Ino, sorry. I need to rest." he said pulling her apart. "Please, leave..."

She looked at him, his eyes were blank, no feeling was shown, he looked tired.

"Ok..." she said. "I'll go..." she turned back at the door "Everyone thought you dead, you should go to Tsunade..." and she left and closed the door.

Shikamaru went to his old room, took of his shirt and laid on the dusty bed. His head was hazy and he felt like a train wreck.

_What's wrong with me..._ he thought._I can't believe I'm back._

Awful images filled his mind. He couldn't forget all the pain they went through when they were captives. All the things those guys did, they destroyed the last piece of innocence in them. He was jumpy, nervous, he was having cold sweats and everything seemed hard. It was hard to breath.

Shikamaru heard something outside and his heart failed a beat. _Was it a cat?_ he thought. His heart continued to pound heavily and it was very hard to breath. He started sweating more and he was shaking. He was trying to stop but he couldn't, everything was hazy and he started losing sense of space.

It was like the air was crumbling around him and he couldn't stop it.

"I can't control this..." he mumbled. "I can't control anything..." and the more he thought about it, the more it crushed him. _I couldn't even take care her..._ he thought.

Tears start rolling down his cheeks, he couldn't breath and the more he tried to stay calm the more he felt incapable of doing so. Panic was taking over him, his heart was pounding so hard it felt like coming off of his chest. He couldn't control the tremors and as much as he tried to breath calmly and deeply the only thing coming of his mouth was hiccups. He started getting nauseous, he couldn't even think straight and barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up. He laid there, in the bathroom floor hoping for it to pass. Shikamaru was unable to control his body, his hands were extremely cold and his face extremely hot, he started feeling his ears burning and he couldn't see straight, he was seeing stains of several colors in the air, purple, yellow, blue...

Shikamaru blacked out.

He waked up the next day with the sun hitting his eyes. _Geez__.._. He thought _How many hours did I slept? _He got up and washed his face, his head was pounding and his eyes were swollen. He lit a cigarette and went barefoot to the garden.

"Smoking is pathetic you know?" he hear behind him.

"Shut up you trobl-" he started turning around but then he realized no one was there.

_It's all in my head!_ he thought _I need to go on with my life..._

Shikamaru took a quick shower, got dressed and left the house. He tried to go as fast as he could and he wanted to go as unnoticed as possible, not that he didn't wanted his friends to know that he was alive, but he was not ready yet to face all the questions and noise.

When he arrived to Tsunade's office without seeing anyone a feeling of accomplishment filled him. He entered the building and knock on the door of the office.

"Come on in!" he heard.

Shikamaru opened the door and closed it behind him, Tsunade was at the window cloud gazing.

"Tsunade-sama." he greeted.

She turned to him and her coffee mug fell from her hands.

"Oh my god!" she said "You're alive!" she reached him with long steps and hugged him. "We thought you were dead, son!"

He was still feeling very detached of any empathetic feeling.

"Yeah..." he said. "It was a trap..."

"I know it was! We realized that we had some kind of spy among us, after intense collaboration with suna we found inside men. Three here and two there. We manage to capture them, all of them. But what happened?!" Tsunade rushed, she had spent the previous year moving mountains with searches to found them but no team had results or leads.

"We were captives. I don't know where we were and I don't even remember how did we managed to escape. They were so many and there was this girl. Ruthless. Cold blooded..." He was staring into oblivion.

"How's Temari?" Tsunade asked looking at him.

He didn't look back.

"Fine... I guess." he put his hands in his pockets "She returned to Suna."

"We don't have death sentence here, so we'll banished the prisoners once we're done getting information. Ok?"

"Ok..." he said _I don't care anyway..._ he thought.

"What did they do to you, Shikamaru?" Tsunade was worried, he looked distant and empty.

"They destroyed us..." he mumbled "They almost killed us... And then they tried to extract information about things. I don't even remember." he looked at Tsunade with tears in his eyes. "I was useless!" he screamed angrily "I couldn't even protect her from them!"

Tsunade turned away and searched for something in her cabinet in the wall.

"Take this!" she tossed him a container with little pills "It will help you sleep"

He looked at the container and then looked at Tsunade.

"I don't want them" he said still pissed.

"Take them you stubborn child!" she raged. Shikamaru ended up saving them in his pocket.

"I'll go now." Shikamaru sighed.

"Time to face reality, hm?"

"Yeah... Let me know when you have another mission. I don't wanna stay still."

"Ok! I'll let you know!"

Shikamaru left. Tsunade was right. It was time to face reality, he had to talk with Ino, it was the only way to get things straight. He went to see her. After a while walking, where everyone looked at him with surprise and confusion because he was supposedly dead, he manage to find her in the flower shop.

"Hey!" she greeted happily and tried to kiss him in the mouth but he turned the face away.

"We need to talk, Ino..." he said.

"We can talk, no one's here and we have plenty of time... What's wrong?" she knew what was going to happen, he was going to break up with her... She was sure about it...

"I don't want to hurt you Ino... Before I left for the mission we had a fight and I should have settled this with you that very day." he said staring her without any emotion showing in his eyes.

She gave him a bitter smile. "You want to break up, right?" Ino looked away to hide the tears.

"Ino I-" Shikamaru started.

"Right?!" She yelled "I don't know what happened to you and I don't know what you've been through but at least be honest!" she kept yelling "I'm tired of this! Just say it..." she was already crying and that was breaking Shikamaru's heart.

"I don't want to break your heart..." he truly meant that. Ino was very important to him, they grew up together but he couldn't see her as a lover, it was a mistake to think that... She was more like a sister to him, and he just couldn't hurt her like that.

"You already did Shikamaru..." She mumbled cleaning the tears from her face.

"I thought we could work it out." he started, even thought she already knew he was breaking up with her, he owed her at least an explanation. "But I can't do this. I should have told you back then, in that day we argued, that it was best for both to break up and lead separate lives..."

"Best for both?" she said amazed by how cold and pragmatic Shikamaru was being.

"I'm not the man you think I am, Ino..." he continued. "I never forgot Temari and it was always stuck in the back of my mind."

"So why didn't you go with her when she left back then? Why did you stay?" she was feeling disappointed, everything she believed was crushed, for one tiny moment in the past she really thought that he had grew to love her. Ino didn't even bother hiding the tear anymore.

"I..." he didn't know what to say to her, he was just to tired of everything.

"You what?" she leaned against the wall, her heart was hurting so badly, every word he was saying was like a needle trespassing her.

"I just- ... I...I'm sorry Ino... It's really best for both, I don't want to hurt you..." he said again.

"I mourned you..." she muttered looking at the floor and taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry..." he added.

"Just... Shut up ok? Go! Shut up... and go..." she manage to say after a long silence.

Shikamaru turned away and left, he kept on walking through the streets and couldn't help but wonder when did his life became so messy, he lost the one, he hurt one of his best friends... It was like life was a burden to heavy to carry and he didn't want that. He didn't want to carry the burden.

After a long walk he arrived to the river near the village, he remembered all the training he had there with his comrades, they were so lazy, especially him! Shikamaru laid in the grass contemplating the clouds. That freshness brought back a memory of Asuma yelling at him for being too lazy, for staying too comfortable in a training field. Asuma was yelling at him because he was wasting the intelligence he had.

_I think he would have been proud of us..._ Shikamaru thought closing his eyes.

He was enjoying all the peace that place was bringing him. The smell of the trees made him feel like a child again and then, suddenly, he was feeling like he was being watched, he opened his eyes again.

"Naruto..." he sighed closing his eyes again. "Why did you keep staring at me and didn't say anything? Geez man that's creepy!"

"I'ts nice to have you back man!" Naruto said with a big smile. "I never believed that you two were dead! You would trick them into some mastermind strategy!"

"Actually, that's exactly what I did! But it took me ten months of excruciating torture to realize their weaknesses." Shikamaru smiled back.

Talking with Naruto was stressful but somehow very liberating. He didn't bother asking him what happened or why he was looking like hell. He had conscience it was awful enough without people asking questions.

"Tsunade told me a while ago you were in Konoha again so I was looking for you!" Naruto said.

"She did?"

"Yeah yeah!" he added. "Look, she said something about you wanting to have something to do and I think she has work for you. She told me if I saw you to tell you to pass by her office.

"Ok ok, I'll go there later." Shikamaru nodded.

"Let's go and grab a bit together! Kiba and Sakura are at Ichiraku waiting for us"

"Hm..." Shikamau thought twice about it. He was enjoying the peacefulness of that place but his stomach was already growling. "Ok! Let's go!" he said finally.

_Seeing the gang again..._ Shikamaru thought.


End file.
